Two Peters
by YouLookLikeFOOD
Summary: There are two Peters with abilities; Petrelli and Parker. So what happens when they meet? One-shot, possibly two-shot.


**A/N: This will be a one-shot, possibly a two-shot. Set in Peter Petrelli's point of view. **

When I woke up this morning, things were… weird.

I'm not talking 'strange' weird, or 'ability' weird. The kind of weird I'm _used to._ I mean, I've woken up to find myself in a crate, my memory wiped, with a bunch of people asking questions I don't know the answers to. I've gone through my day, waiting for my niece to stand up after she just got hit by a bus. I've seen my brother fly; I've phased through walls and even traveled through time.

Ok. I can _live _with that kind of weird. That kind of 'weird' is my _normal._ I mean, come on, my brother flies, my mother dreams the future, my niece is a regenerist, and I'm a combination of every super-powered person I meet.

So, that's _normal._

What _isn't _normal for me is waking up in a place I've never seen, a world I've never been in, and having a newspaper thrown in my face that says, "Electro put behind bars! Spider-Man escapes once again!"

Not the best start to a day, if you get my point.

I read the entire article four times before I could believe it. And even then, I didn't understand one word. From the picture, it looked like two guys in tights throwing punches and, believe it or not, electricity. I snorted; what was the big deal? I've done that in my sleep. Almost took out half the building once.

I looked more closely at the newspaper. It proudly identified itself as 'The Daily Bugle' on the top. Below the picture of the freaks in pajamas were four words: 'Photographs by: Peter Parker."

I stared at it for a moment, wondering if I had been taken to some other dimension where 'Parker' was my last name instead of 'Petrelli'. I took a deep breath, trying to remind myself that 'Peter' was a fairly common name, and it was doubtful that I was the only on in the city who had it.

Still, it was somewhat bizarre. I briefly wondered if Sylar had gone crazy (well, crazier than normal), putting on a costume and becoming a first-class super-villain. But, when I thought about it, it just wasn't his style. He was hardly going to limit himself to one ability, and he preferred the stab-you-in-the-back approach.

I thought back to everyone else I knew who could control electricity. Elle? No, the person in the picture was definitely a male.

Me?

I _could_ have done it. When you live in my world, with my life, and knowing about people with abilities, you take everything into consideration. And I mean _everything. _

It was possible that I'd been forced to do something that idiotic. Maybe some hero out for laughs. But no, the paper said that 'Electro' had been put in prison.

So, I turned my attention to Spider-Man instead. Well, not Sylar. The web-thing was something even _he _wouldn't do. It didn't seem to be me, either. From the article, it seemed that Spider-Man had been around for a _long _time, and I would have had to have some _serious _mind control for something _that _big.

I didn't know anyone with that kind of ability, either. I mean, 'human spider'? Come on.

I studied the picture and shook my head. What kind of an idiot dressed in tights and went to fight crime? They'd be exposing abilities to the _world!_ All of us would be in danger!

I stood, shoved the paper and my hands into my pockets, and started walking. I blew a strand of hair out of my eyes, keeping them focused on the ground, trying to sort out my thoughts.

And that was when I heard the scream.

_**"PETER!"**_

It was one of those life-and-death kind of screams. Those last, desperate attempts to get someone's attention, because you'll die if you don't.

I whirled around. Crazy though this morning was, someone had called my name, and I was going to help them. I _had _to.

My eyes turned to the skies, where a young woman was clinging on to the edge of a roof. I didn't know how she got there, or why she was calling my name, but at this point, it didn't matter. I'd ask her about it _later._

I hurriedly thought about my options. With people pointing and screaming, it was hardly likely that I could get to her by flight. I'd have to save it as a last-chance sort of thing.

And then it happened.

Some crazy flash of red-and-blue mayhem streaked past me. People started cheering, some booed, but there it was.

Spider-Man.

I stared. I just _stared. _This was the idiot who decided to be a glory hog. If heroes weren't exposed after this little stunt, then Sylar was going to kill him. No doubt about it.

I decided that this was one of those scenarios where you had to let go of the secret and just start flying towards the helpless, screaming lady that somehow knows your name before the crazy idiot with the mask and dorky costume gets to her. From what the Bugle had said about this Spider-Man, he seemed bad enough to start World War Three anyway, so it didn't seem as though he was really going to _help _her.

I raced into the air. A few people gasped behind me, but it was over. Heroes were exposed because of an idiot in a mask. _Wonderful._

I landed next to the woman before he did, reaching out to her.

"Take my hand." I directed her.

She stared at me, wide-eyed with fear.

I was about to help her up when something big, red, and blue landed a harsh kick on my stomach.

"You. Stay. AWAY FROM HER!" Spider-Man cried, rolling expertly to his feet. I coughed, the wind completely knocked out of my lungs.

His hands curled into fists. He seemed like an experienced fighter, with almost limitless energy. He was bouncing all over the place, never keeping still enough for me to land a blast of electricity on him.

"Don't you _dare _touch her!" He snarled, throwing a fist in my direction. I dodged easily, grabbing his arm and pulling him down to the ground.

Desperate to get the unknown woman out of danger, I used my telekinesis to lift her onto the ceiling before turning around to face my attacker. He was back on his feet and staring.

"You're pretty sure of yourself." He spat. "Don't even bother with the mask. What, think you'll never lose?" A web came in my direction, and I rolled under it.

"_Me?_" I demanded, blocking a punch with my arm and landing a fist in his face. "You're the one who's ruining it for everyone! Don't you realize what will happen now? Now that everyone's found out about _us?_"

"Us?" This seemed to baffle him as he blocked my kick.

"What?" I grabbed his arm and pulled his face into my fist. "Did you think you were the only one?" I laughed dryly. "Typical."

"Only one what?" He asked, rolling away and springing to his feet once more.

"Only one who could do… this! Something different, something strange! Telekinesis, pyrokinesis, radioactivity!" A blast of red-hot flame came in his direction. He dodged it expertly, though the back of his costume was singed.

He did a series of complicated flips until he was behind me. I whirled around, but he made no move to attack me again.

"Others?" he asked, his voice soft. He seemed amazed. "There are _others?_"

I paused. "Well, yes. Hundreds. Maybe thousands."

He froze, and I heard a single, soft swear slip from his lips.

"You've got to be _kidding _me." He breathed. "I've barely managed to fight off _this _lot! How am I going to beat _thousands?_"

"You don't _have _to beat them!" I protested. "They're normal, ordinary people! Most of them just want to be left alone!"

He stared. Though I couldn't see past his mask, I could tell he was trying to pull his thoughts together.

"Ordinary?" he squeaked at last. "How did they… how did so many of them… become… like this? How did they get their powers?"

I shrugged, glad that the fighting was over and he was finally listening to _sense. _"The same way you did."

"Radioactive spider bite?" his tone was incredulous. "Thousands of people?"

I raised an eyebrow. "No. The Eclipse."

"_Eclipse?_"

I nodded. "Most of us were ordinary. And then, one day, there was an eclipse. We don't know _why _it happened, it just sort of… _did._"

"And they just want to live ordinary lives?"

I thought about this for a moment, my brain instantly flickering back to Sylar. "Well… _most _of them."

I could tell he was excited by the idea. "Thousands of us. There'd never be crime again." He started pacing. "We could all stop it! Even the super-villains wouldn't dare fight us all! Ock, Electro, Mysterio, the Vulture! They wouldn't _touch _us!"

I stopped him before his fantasy could go on any longer. "Oh, no. They don't need that. They just want normal lives."

"But if they could help…!"

There was a child-like innocence in how he said it, and I was suddenly reminded of Hiro. They didn't see how anyone could just stand by when they could be _heroes._

I sighed heavily. "Look." I said kindly. "If they wanted to help out, don't you think they would have by now? With or without the masks? Don't you think they would have come forward and helped you fight?"

He paused, then sighed dejectedly. "Yes." He admitted grudgingly.

I smiled at him. "You seem to be doing a good job, though." I tentatively tried. It had long ago become clear to me that the Bugle was wrong. Spider-Man was no villain. He'd tried to stop me from hurting the young woman, who was still sitting by the edge, staring at the two of us. He'd thought of people like 'Electro' as villains, and seemed to want to stop the 'bad guy'.

He suddenly brightened. "What about you?" he asked.

I shook my head. "Sorry. I only came because she called my name." I gestured to the woman.

He froze. "Peter?" He asked. "Y-Your name's Peter?"

I nodded. "Yes." I paused. "What's so funny?"

I could tell he was holding back laughter. Even with the mask, I could almost see his grin. He shook his head, laughed for a moment, then tried to compose himself.

"Nothing, nothing." He said at last, still chuckling. "I just… I don't think she was calling _you._"

I bristled, indignant. "Oh?" I could feel menace creeping into my tone.

He picked up on it almost immediately. "Oh, it's not… It's just…" he sighed. "I can't exactly explain this. You'll just have to trust me."

I felt an eyebrow rise. I looked from him to the woman, then back to him.

Now, I don't normally get so puzzled about the simple things. But there was something here that didn't add up. Like how relieved the woman was when she saw Spider-Man, yet she hadn't called for him. She had called _my _name and seemed scared of _me._ Then, how it seemed so _funny _to Spider-Man that my name was Peter. And his words, 'I don't think she was calling _you._'

"I'm afraid that's a hard thing for me to do." I said at last. It wasn't entirely true. I'd met a lot of people that I trusted. But then again, I'd also met a lot of people who wanted me dead. So, it was _partially _true.

He paused. "I can't tell you." He replied at last.

I sighed heavily. "Fine." I decided to drop it. I gestured to the woman. "You might want to see if she's all right."

He nodded, turning to the woman. I dropped down the side of the building, stopped myself from going _splat! _at the last second, and started walking. I figured it was best if I didn't make any long, drawn-out goodbyes.

As I started walking down the street, I shoved my hands back into my pockets. I felt the paper I'd put in there earlier and pulled it out.

I read the article with a new perspective on the situation. The world knew about heroes now, anyway. Nothing I could do to change it. Spider-Man had been around for a long time, though, so I was beginning to wonder if my earlier suspicions had been correct- that this wasn't my universe, but a place where superpowers were known but rare.

I decided not to think about it as I read about Electro and Spider-Man's fight. I looked once more to the photo.

And stopped cold.

Because there it was. The answer. All the little oddities were slowly falling into place. The laughter, the way the woman had called _my _name.

It was all spelt out for me in four little words.

'Photographs by: Peter Parker.'

I stared at the words for a few minutes. And then I started to chuckle.

The chuckle grew into a laugh. The laugh grew ever further, becoming louder with each second. It was out of control before I knew it.

I crumpled up the paper and threw it into a trash can. What better place for him to hide, than working for a company that hated Spider-Man?

"You clever son of a bitch." I chortled. I kept laughing as I kept walking, into this strange world and away from the superhero who shared my name.

**A/N: In case there is any doubt, yes, the woman was Mary Jane. **


End file.
